Leaving a Legacy: Lessons from the Writings of Daniel Drake by Philip M. Diller (review)

For the bicentennial of the University of Cincinnati, Philip M. Diller, a practicing physician at the university, took on the project to edit a collection of the published work of local nineteenth-century physician, Daniel Drake. Drake founded the medical college that would be the cornerstone of the university. The previous publication of Drake's selected works was incomplete and no longer in print. Diller thoughtfully and eloquently executed the goals of creating a book that not only captured the life of an accomplished physician, but is an example of how someone's legacy can inspire generations of readers. The Bicentennial Commission wanted to extend the previous publication to sample a wider selection of Drake's work and better understand his life. Diller thoughtfully and eloquently executed the goals of creating a book that not only captured the life of an accomplished physician, but is an example of how someone's legacy can inspire generations of readers.

Cincinnati locals know Drake Hospital, but rarely know much, or anything, about its namesake, Daniel Drake. Born in 1785, Drake was in raised in Kentucky only a short distance upriver from Cincinnati. He only had six months of formal education. Drake spent his childhood and adolescence outdoors and caring for his five younger siblings. His early years in rural Kentucky were the foundation to the important traits of discipline, observation, and persistence. His parents found it important that Daniel had a strong moral compass. This morality snuck into all facets of his life, and Daniel was an ambitious, hardworking, self-taught, young man. Eager to study medicine, Drake completed an apprenticeship before traveling to Philadelphia to continue his medical education. Here, he was taught by leading physicians of the time, including Benjamin Rush, Caspar Wistar, and Benjamin Barton. It was Barton who taught Drake the philosophy that shaped his entire career: "learning by accurately describing what is seen through firsthand observation, drawing inferences from personal observations, and writing these down for the benefit of others." (xxi)

This is not a biography, but instead an instructional book based on surviving writings of a well-rounded, accomplished, nineteenth-century physician. The goal of the book is to guide readers in how to live "a life that leads to a positive legacy." (xxvii) Diller questioned what a legacy really was, and settled on an unsurprising definition. Legacies are the "messages we can read from a life well lived." (xx) People's lives are filled with "choices and actions, habits of character, experiences shared with others, responses to triumphs and failings." (xix) However, Diller noted that the book is an incomplete picture of Drake's thoughts and life. Writings that were "clearly dated or failed to illustrate a lesson about legacy building," (xxvi) were left out. It is unclear how pieces were chosen for inclusion. This sort of selection appears to have crafted a legacy that may or may not have been intended by Drake. In other types of writing, this selective use of writings would be a shortcoming.

The book is divided into the areas of life that the plaque on Drake's headstone captured. Drake was a physician, a teacher, a man, a citizen, and a writer. Each section of the book has a short introduction, subsections of lessons learned from Drake's writings, and questions for the reader to use for reflection. These questions are central to the focus of the book. Each section of Drake's writings is labeled with a lesson, like "study and memorialize the past in your community" (72), and "how to learn in practice" (187). Every section has reflection questions "designed to engage the reader about the theme raised by the selection." (xxvii)

Leaving a Legacy is useful for many readers. Undergraduate History of Medicine courses can use Drake's writings as insights into the life and practice of a nineteenth-century physician. This book is best...